Unexpectedly Wed to the Officer
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Jenni Fletcher
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27
Chapter One
The door hit Sebastian Fortini squarely on the nose.
It was, he considered, a case of monumentally bad timing. If he hadn’t been looking sideways, wondering why the dresser that had spent two decades in one particular corner of the kitchen had suddenly moved to the wall opposite, then he wouldn’t have turned so sharply at the creak of a floorboard in the hallway, which meant that the door, when it opened, would have had only its own and not his additional impetus to wield against him. But unfortunately he had, and he was, so it did.
If only the chain of catastrophes had ended there...
Alas, his nose proved to be just the first victim as the full and somewhat considerable weight of a heavy oak door being violently rammed rather than gently pushed open knocked the rest of him off his feet and into an inelegant heap on the floor.
Between the impact of the wood on his face and the stone flagstones on his posterior, it was actually difficult to tell which was the most painful, a fact that did nothing to curb the flow of expletives that immediately burst from his lips, which appeared to be coated in some warm, sticky substance.
He reached a hand to his nose, felt blood and sucked in a breath, readying himself for a fresh burst of eloquence, when a female figure suddenly sprang out of the darkness of the hallway, armed with what appeared to be the contents of a coal bucket.
‘Get out!’
Sebastian raised himself up on his elbows, squinting at his attacker through the murky flickers of light cast by the still-glowing hearth. Unexpected as it was to find himself being threatened in the dead of night by a shovel and pair of fire tongs, he was frankly more perplexed than alarmed. His sister’s voice, he was further surprised to notice, had developed something of a west country burr in the two years since he’d last been home on shore leave. More bizarrely, she’d grown in height, too. In fact, her whole appearance had undergone some kind of radical transformation...
‘What the blazes?’ He drew his brows together, belatedly acknowledging that she was not, in fact, his sister after all. Not unless the blow to his head had affected his sight, which seemed unlikely since there was nothing blurry about the vision of golden loveliness before him. She was about as different in appearance to Anna as it was possible to be—willowy, golden and, at that moment, clad in a white nightgown short enough to reveal a pair of slender, shapely calves and positively minuscule ankles. In other circumstances he might have been quite delighted to find himself lying beside them. Unfortunately, she’d just knocked the sense out of him and the words racing through his mind were a great deal less than charitable. Ankles be damned, his nose felt as though it was about to explode.
‘Oh!’ She started forward at the sight of blood and then checked herself, jerking her chin upwards and scowling defiantly instead.
‘You might give a man some warning when you’re about to open the door.’ He scowled back, clenching his jaw against the impulse to swear some more. He’d barely scratched the surface of his extensive sailor’s vocabulary. ‘I think you just broke my nose.’
‘Good!’ Her grip on the shovel only tightened. ‘That’ll teach you to break into people’s property in the middle of the night! Now get out or I’ll scream for the night-watchman.’
‘Wait!’ He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, waving it in the air like a flag of surrender before using it to wipe the blood off his face. After two days of travelling in a series of cramped stagecoaches from Plymouth, the last of which had arrived three hours late thanks to a loose wheel, being hit in the face by a door wasn’t the welcome home he’d been hoping for, but, injured party or not, the last thing he wanted was to be hauled off to gaol in the middle of the night. ‘I didn’t break in. I have a key and I was trying not to make any noise, if you must know, only things seem to have moved around since I was last here.’
He threw another speculative look around the kitchen. The pale yellow walls, oval-shaped oak table and threadbare armchair by the hearth were familiar, but actually quite a lot had changed since he was last there. To begin with, there was the broom he’d knocked over when he’d opened the back door, then there was the sack of flour he’d stubbed his toe against, then a set of shelves he definitely hadn’t seen before, not to mention the dresser... Presumably his sister had decided to move a few things around, but where was she anyhow?
‘Where’s Anna?’ He cocked his head to one side enquiringly.
‘You know Anna?’ The woman blinked, apparently surprised enough to lower the shovel a few inches.
‘All my life.’ He glanced from her face to her makeshift weapons and then back again. It didn’t seem as though she had any real intention of using them, but considering the various sharp edges and their potential uses, it was probably best to be sure. ‘By the way, would you mind putting those tongs down? I’m afraid to ask what you intended to do with them, but they’re making me want to cross my legs.’
‘Oh.’
His lips twitched as a furious blush spread across her cheeks. Now that the pain in his nose was receding, it occurred to him that if he really had to be hit in the face by a woman, then she might well be the one he would have chosen to do it. Even scowling and wielding a pair of tongs, she was quite stunningly pretty. Beautiful in fact, with delicate, elfin features set in a peaches and cream complexion, albeit one that was currently claret-coloured.
‘No!’ She was adamant despite her embarrassment. ‘Not until you tell me how you know Anna.’
‘Well...’ He braced his hands on the floor, pushing himself to his feet so abruptly that she leapt part way into the air, the tongs wobbling precariously in her grasp. ‘I believe that we first met in the cradle. She used to sing me lullabies, as I recall. Allow me to introduce myself. Sebastian Fortini, at your service.’
‘Anna’s little brother?’
‘The one and only.’ He winked and made an elaborate bow, enjoying her gasp of surprise as he flourished the now bloodstained handkerchief out in front of him. ‘As for you, I can only assume that you’re a figment of my imagination caused by the blow to my head.’
‘Oh, dear.’ A horrified expression crossed her face. ‘Sorry about that. I really thought you were a burglar.’
‘Quite understandable.’ He lifted his shoulders, conceding that it was, in fact, entirely understandable since he hadn’t sent any advance notice of his arrival. There hadn’t seemed much point when he could travel in person just as fast as a letter, but then he hadn’t reckoned on his coach’s late arrival. That had struck him as somewhat unfortunate, coinciding as it did with the middle of the night, but he’d assumed that he could simply let himself in, sleep in the armchair by the hearth and wait to surprise his sister in the morning. What he hadn’t expected was to trip over half the kitchen furniture and wake anyone else up.
‘My name’s Henrietta Gardiner.’ The woman placed the tongs and shovel down by the hearth and clasped her hands together primly in front of her.
‘Delighted to meet you, even under the circumstances.’ He suppressed a smile at the primness. There was something charmingly incongruous about it when she was standing in front of him wearing nothing more than a white nightgown, particularly one that, whilst not exactly sheer, did only a partial job of concealing the luscious curves beneath. He allowed himself a few seconds of appreciation before pulling his gaze reluctantly back to her face. ‘So, Miss Gardiner, has my sister employed you to guard the shop against night-time marauders?’
‘Not exactly. I’m the new manager.’
‘Manager?’ He forgot instantly about the nightgown, seized with a rush of panic. ‘Why is Anna employing a manager?’
‘Because she’s—’ She stopped mid-sentence, regarding him askance. ‘Wait, didn’t you get any of her letters?’
‘No. My ship’s been stuck out in the Pacific for the past year. I haven’t heard anything from home in the whole time. What’s happened?’ He took a step forward impatiently. ‘Is she all right? Has something happened to our mother?’
‘Oh, no, everything’s all right. They’re both perfectly well, only—’ She stopped for a second time, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth in a way that made him acutely conscious of her nightgown again. ‘I think I’d better put the kettle on. Are you hungry? There are some leftover biscuits somewhere.’
‘You mean Belles?’ He pulled a chair out and settled himself down at the table, feeling relieved by her assurances. The thought of one of his family’s famous biscuits was comforting, too, telling him he was finally home at last. ‘I can’t remember the last time I had one of those. I hope Anna hasn’t been messing around with the recipe.’
There was a conspicuous pause before Miss Gardiner answered, a glint of amusement in her eye as she deposited a plate of biscuits on the table in front of him. ‘You might be surprised by what Anna has done. Welcome home, Mr Fortini, we have a lot to talk about.’
‘Let me get this straight. My sister—my sister Anna—who despises the aristocracy and everything they stand for, married an earl and now she’s a countess?’
Sebastian wasn’t sure how many times he’d repeated the question—or repeated the same combination of words in a variety of different ways. He’d started off with the vague idea that if he kept on repeating them, then they might start to make sense, but the tactic seemed to be having the opposite effect. Everything that he’d heard over the past half an hour was so bewildering and unbelievable that he was seriously wondering whether he ought to consult a doctor about the blow to his head, after all.
‘I know it’s a lot to take in and it sounds far-fetched, but I assure you it’s all true, Mr Fortini.’
Miss Gardiner was regarding him across the table with an expression of tolerant sympathy, her delectable figure now modestly hidden beneath a green woollen dressing gown, more was the pity. She struck him as somewhat unbelievable, too, and not just because he’d been living among men for so long. If he’d tried, he could hardly have dreamt up a more exquisite-looking specimen of femininity, although, considering the circumstances, she surely had to be real. If she were a figment of his imagination, then they’d be doing a lot more than drinking tea and eating biscuits at midnight. They’d be on the same side of the table for a start, if not on top of it, and she wouldn’t be wearing that dressing gown either. Not to mention that he’d be far more intimately acquainted with those ankles...
‘But a countess?’ He dragged his mind back to the subject in hand.
‘Of Staunton, yes.’ In addition to her more obvious attractions, Miss Gardiner appeared to have limitless amounts of patience. ‘They held the wedding here in Bath six months ago. I was a witness.’
‘You were?’ He leaned forward. ‘Tell me, how did Anna seem?’
‘Very happy.’
‘Are you certain? Forgive me, but I know how Anna feels about the aristocracy. She detests the whole lot of them. Are you sure she wasn’t coerced into anything?’
‘Coerced?’ Miss Gardiner looked baffled. ‘I believe that she had mixed feelings at first, but I’ve never heard of a shopkeeper being coerced to marry an earl.’
‘No, but perhaps there was some compelling reason...?’
She stared at him blankly for a few seconds before emitting a high-pitched squeak of indignation. ‘Absolutely not!’
‘What about financial reasons, then?’ Sebastian wasn’t prepared to let the subject drop so easily. ‘Perhaps she felt she needed the security?’
‘Anna would never have married for money!’ Miss Gardiner pushed her chair back, apparently on the verge of storming away. ‘Or for any reason except affection and respect! It’s insulting that you would even suggest such a thing!’
‘I would never insult my sister.’ Sebastian held his hands up in a placatory gesture. ‘I just need to be sure that she got married of her own free will and that she was happy about it. I’d hate to think of her being forced into anything because I wasn’t here to help her in a difficult situation.’
‘Mmm.’ She sat down again, her expression softening slightly as she tucked her chair back under the table. ‘Well, in that case, you can put your mind at ease. Anna’s marriage was a love match. She married the Earl despite his rank, not because of it.’
‘That’s a relief. Still, a countess...’ He shook his head. ‘You have to admit, it sounds pretty unbelievable and not just about Anna, but my mother, too. How is it possible that after twenty-five years of being disowned by her family, she’s gone to live with her mother, my so-called grandmother? A dowager duchess, of all people?’
‘I don’t know, but she has, at your uncle’s house, Feversham Hall in Yorkshire. Anna says they’re all very happy together. As is she.’
‘Well, damn it all.’ He winced. ‘Pardon me, Miss Gardiner.’
‘That’s all right.’ She gave him an arch look. ‘It’s really nothing compared to the things you said earlier.’
‘Ah...you mean when the door hit me? Sorry about that, although, to be honest, I’ve forgotten what it was exactly. Nothing too shocking, I hope?’
‘That would probably depend on how easily a person is shocked, but I’ve chosen to regard it as educational. I never realised that my vocabulary was so lacking before.’ One corner of her mouth curved upwards, revealing a dimple in her left cheek. ‘But you’re forgiven. All of this must have come as quite a shock.’
‘That’s an understatement.’ He tipped his chair on to its back legs. ‘You know, as pleasant as tea is, I believe that the situation might call for something stronger.’
‘You mean to drink?’ The dimple disappeared as two spots of colour blazed across her cheekbones. ‘I’m afraid we don’t have anything like that.’
‘Not even some port? There always used to be a bottle tucked away on the top shelf in the pantry.’
‘Ye-es.’ Her gaze flickered to one side. ‘There was a bottle, only I took it down a few months ago. I believe I might have poured it away.’
‘You poured it away?’ He dropped his chair back to the floor in surprise. She was looking curiously guilty, too, although, considering her healthy complexion, he found it difficult to believe that she was a hardened port-drinker or anything-drinker. Probably the opposite was true and she disapproved of alcohol entirely, which given his current desire for a drink was more than a little unfortunate. Still, since it couldn’t be helped... ‘Never mind. I can see that you’ve made quite a few changes.’
‘Yes. Anna said that I could do whatever I liked and I thought that the dresser—’
‘It wasn’t a criticism, Miss Gardiner,’ he interrupted as her spine stiffened defensively. ‘Just an observation. Now that I look at it, I wonder why my mother never thought to put the dresser over there herself. It makes the whole kitchen look bigger.’
‘That’s what I thought.’ She looked pleased, the vivid red of her cheeks fading to a dusky and extremely fetching shade of pink. ‘And with the table here, we can see through to the shop when we’re baking.’
‘We? You have an assistant, I presume.’
‘Nancy, yes. She was a kitchen maid, but the Earl’s grandmother sent her to help with the baking for a while and she liked the work so much that she stayed. Now she lives here, too.’
‘She’s a deep sleeper, I take it?’
‘Very.’ The dimple made a fresh appearance. ‘And she hates to be disturbed. That’s why I didn’t wake her tonight. I thought perhaps I was just imagining noises down here.’
‘I’m relieved that you didn’t wake her.’ He lifted a finger to his nose and pushed it tentatively from side to side. ‘You’re quite ferocious enough on your own.’
‘Oh, dear. Do you really think that it’s broken?’
‘Probably.’ He felt a twinge of guilt at her contrite expression. ‘But not to worry. It’s not the first time and I doubt it will be the last. I actually forget how my face looked originally. For all we know, this might be an improvement.’
She gave a low, throaty laugh and then leaned across the table suddenly, her eyes alight with curiosity. ‘Did you break it before in the navy? Anna said that you were a lieutenant.’
‘Only acting lieutenant, I’m afraid. I was promoted by my captain, not the Admiralty, and I never got an opportunity to sit any exams. Now, thanks to Trafalgar, the navy has a surplus of officers so I’ve been discharged from duty. Not that I’m complaining about our victory, but it might have been easier to swallow if I’d actually been there instead of...’ He bit his tongue. ‘In any case, I’m back.’
‘So you’re not going back to sea?’
He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. It was a good question. He’d finally come home to help Anna run Belles, but apparently that ship had sailed, too. He wasn’t needed here any more than he was in the navy. Which was ironic considering how guilty he’d felt about being away over the past few years. Now it appeared he was a completely free man. Free from family obligations, naval orders and commitments. It was a strange, somewhat exuberant feeling. He could do anything he wanted, go anywhere he wanted. He was still only in his early twenties, young enough to find another career. He could...
‘Mr Fortini?’
He started. ‘Forgive me, I was just thinking. To be honest, I’ve no idea what I’ll do yet. Maybe I’ll just enjoy my freedom for a while.’
‘Anna and your mother will be thrilled to see you again. They’ve been so worried. The Earl even went to the Admiralty to ask about your ship.’
‘Really?’ Sebastian had to make a conscious effort not to clench his jaw at the words. If that were the case, then it was possible his new brother-in-law already knew what had happened to the Menelaus. The question was whether or not he would have told Anna. He hoped not, and fortunately Miss Gardiner seemed to have no idea...
‘I’m afraid there was no way for me to send word any earlier.’ He shifted forward in his chair, splaying both of his hands out on the table in what he hoped was a masterful way of steering the conversation. ‘But I’m here now. Only it appears that I’ve come to the wrong place.’
‘Not wrong. It’s still your family’s shop. They’re just...’
‘Not here?’
‘No.’ She smiled apologetically. ‘I’m afraid not.’
Their gazes locked across the table and he found himself instinctively smiling back. Her eyes were a luminous and vibrant blue, he noticed, as clear and enticing as the tropical seas he’d seen on the other side of the world, like warm pools he might willingly dive into. Something about them made him completely forget what they were talking about. If he hadn’t known better, he would actually have thought they had some kind of hypnotising effect... He couldn’t take his own off them.
‘More tea?’ She broke the spell, reaching for the teapot. ‘I think there’s a little left.’
‘No, thank you.’ He stood up, suddenly aware of the impropriety of their situation and wondering if her eyes weren’t perhaps a little too enticing for their own good. ‘I ought to be on my way.’
‘You’re leaving?’ She looked startled. ‘But it’s the middle of the night!’
‘True, but under the circumstances I can hardly stay here. It wouldn’t be proper, or so my mother would tell me anyway.’
‘No, I suppose not.’ A series of expressions passed over her face before settling into one of resolve. ‘But I can’t possibly throw you out into the cold. Belles belongs to your family, which makes it your home even more than it is mine.’
‘Miss Gardiner...’
‘I admit that the circumstances aren’t ideal...’ she spoke over him ‘...but it’s not as if Nancy and I are ladies. Nobody cares what we do. There’s really only the shop’s reputation to think about, but as long as we smuggle you out discreetly in the morning, then who’s to know you were ever here?’
‘I still don’t think...’
‘But I insist.’ Her chin jutted upwards mutinously. ‘Most decent establishments will be closed at this time of night and, even if they aren’t, it’s likely to be freezing outside. Improper or not, I’d never be able to look Anna in the face again if anything happened to you. No, Mr Fortini, I simply cannot allow you to leave, not when there’s a perfectly serviceable sofa in the parlour.’
‘The green one? I remember.’
‘Good. Because I’m putting my foot down.’
‘So I see.’ He rubbed a hand over his chin, recalling his earlier glimpse of ankle and feeling rather impressed by her speech. It seemed a shame to gainsay her after all that—besides, who was he to argue when a beautiful woman insisted that he stay for the night? Even if it wasn’t quite in the way he might have preferred. An image of lithe female limbs wrapped around his own floated into his mind... He didn’t want to think about how long it had been since that had last happened...or since he’d done anything with a woman for that matter. No wonder he was fantasising about ankles!
‘Well then...’ He cleared his throat huskily. ‘I appreciate your hospitality, Miss Gardiner.’
‘You do?’ She looked vaguely surprised by her own success. ‘I mean, good. I’ll go and fetch some blankets and meet you in the parlour in a few minutes.’
‘I’ll see you there.’
Sebastian watched her go, dropping back into his chair to take stock of the events of the night. His nose was possibly broken, there were going to be bruises on sensitive areas of his body, he was no closer to being reunited with his family and he was about to sleep on a sofa that, if memory served, was a good foot too short to be comfortable. He ought to be wishing he’d stayed in Plymouth. Instead, he felt quite unexpectedly happy.
It must be the shop, he reasoned in bewilderment. Only that could explain this powerful, strangely profound sense of being home.
